Ad hoc method for the assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials

Abstract

The European Commission requested EFSA assess antimicrobial-resistant bacteria responsible for animal transmissible diseases, with a view to listing such pathogens for European Union action. This Scientific Opinion addresses the ad hoc method developed: (i) to give a global state of play as regards resistant animal pathogens that cause transmissible animal diseases, (ii) to identify the most relevant bacteria in the EU and (iii) to summarise their actual or potential animal health impact, and to perform their assessment for being listed and categorised according to the criteria of Articles 7, 5, 9 and 8 within the Animal Health Law (AHL) framework. An extensive literature review is carried out to give the global state of play of selected resistant bacteria that constitute a threat to animal health (i). An expert judgement procedure, based on the outcome of the literature review, is applied to identify which among those bacteria subjected to the literature review are the 'most relevant' in the European Union (ii). Their animal health impact in the European Union and their assessment for being listed and categorised according to the AHL framework will follow the 'ad hoc method for the assessment on listing and categorisation of animal diseases within the framework of the Animal Health Law' that EFSA has developed in the past (iii). The assessment of (i) and (ii) is addressed in distinct scientific opinions that are published separately by animal species of interest (dogs and cats, horses, pigs, poultry, cattle, small ruminants, rabbits and aquatic animal species). The assessment of (iii) is addressed in distinct scientific opinions and published separately by the animal pathogen.

Assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials: Dogs and cats

“…The methodology applied for this opinion is described in a dedicated document which details the ad hoc method for the assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials within the AHL framework (EFSA AHAW Panel, 2021). Additional methods specific to this opinion (data collection via an extensive literature review) are detailed below.…”

“…The very wide ranges of AMR percentages observed in pathogenic bacteria isolated from cats and dogs in the same region or country highlight the difficulties in obtaining reliable and comparable estimates from scientific publications, which are often based on susceptibility testing of specific (and often biased) strain collections. National monitoring systems for AMR in diseased animals are only available in a few countries and there are limitations that hamper the comparability of data reported by different countries (Mader et al, 2021). Moreover, the few available national reports have a limited geographical scope when considering the global situation, particularly outside Europe.…”

“…The interpretation of the ToR is as in Sections 1.3.1 and 1.3.2 of the scientific opinion on the ad hoc method to be followed for the assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials within the AHL framework (EFSA AHAW Panel, 2021).…”

“…The process to identify the bacterial species to focus on in the extensive literature review (ELR) is described in Section 2.1.2 in the ad hoc method for the assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials within the AHL (EFSA AHAW Panel, 2021). According to that methodology, the following target bacterial pathogens for dogs and cats had been agreed upon by the EFSA working group: Bordetella bronchiseptica, Clostridioides difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Enterobacter spp., Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi.…”

Assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials: Horses

“…This scientific opinion presents the global state of play for resistant animal pathogens that cause transmissible animal diseases (ToR 1) and the results of the assessment of the most relevant bacteria in the EU (first part of ToR 2) for dogs and cats following the methodology described in EFSA AHAW Panel ( 2021 ).…”